Adolescent Kitten Feeding-how much/how often?

Our 4.5-5 mo old kitten,Kenzie, is currently being fed 1, 5.5 oz can/day of Merrick Purrfect Bistro. She gets 1/2 the can in the morning and the other half about 7-8pm. Sometimes she eats most then 'saves' the rest to finish over the next hour, other times she gobbles it all up in one sitting. She still acts hungry though!

We had Merrick dry kitten food out the first week we had her, in addition to the 2/day wet food feedings, but in 1 week she gained 1/2 a lb (from 4.1 to 4.6 lbs) so the vet told us to remove the dry food, no more free feeding, and stick with the wet diet only. We vary the flavors of merrick we give her, and also sometimes give her Fresh Pet (sold in the refrigerated cases-looks like mini meatballs), but once we finish the current bag we won't use it anymore due to the veggie content.

Is the 1, 5.5 oz can enough for a growing kitten? I've read a lot of past posts recommending free feeding until 1 year old, but I certainly don't want an overweight cat. She is fixed and is strictly indoors, and also currently fighting a URI.

Thanks!

No, one 5.5 oz can split between two meals daily is not enough. IMO, she should still be getting 3 meals per day. She is just entering her "teenage" years. I have had kittens eat upwards of 12+ oz a day during this prime growing stage. I have 4 13 month olds who still eat 8.25 oz daily (though we are starting to tapper that back some.)

At her age, I'm not sure you can over feed. Perhaps the weight increase you saw that week was due to a growth spurt? I certainly wouldn't put a 5 month old on restricted calories.

I think if you are feeding grain free wet food you don't need to worry about weight gain for a kitten. I fed my cat pretty well whatever she could eat for the first year of her life and now she is 6 1/2 lb (low to normal for her breed). now at a year and 3 months old. Now I have reduced her meals from 3/day to 2/day and have also reduced the amount. She eats raw now and I feed about 100g a day.

My boys (ten months old) are eating only about 1 teaspoon of wet food--whether grain free or not, at each sitting.  I feed twice a day.  They love the Purina Kitten Chow, and are starting to migrate to the regular adult foods with Purina and then Meow Mix.  I can leave food out all day in the house, but once they consider that it is stale, they won't go near it.  Ditto with the two outside cats.

They do have the ability to go outside, but any food left outside beyond a certain hour will be devoured by vermin.

Angelinacat, the difference between you and OP is that she is not free feeding dry. Her girl is getting canned only, separated into 2 meals.

Hi CatPack.  I understand entirely.  I am just giving the OP the experience that I am currently having.  If I were dealing with two different cats, the response might be different.

Thanks for the input! The vets recommendation seemed strange to me given Kenzie's age. It is a completely grain free diet, and I should mention, Kenzie never seemed to touch the dry food, though the idea of it going stale didnt cross my mind, so that could have been why! The vet seemed convinced Kenzie was porking out while I wasn't around, but the level of dry food never dropped.

That aside, how much wet food should I put out for her at each feeding? I currently feed her between 8-9 am before I go to work, and I work long days, so she doesn't get 'dinner' until 7-8 pm? For feeding three times/day, I suppose I could feed her again around 10-11pm? I'm hesitant to put dry food out during the day because we tried both Natural Balance (what the shelter fed her) and merrick, and she didn't seem to eat either. She's also teething and I think the dry food hurts her mouth?

Honestly, I would give her as much as she will eat at each feeding. Start with 1/2 a can, if she eats that quickly, offer her another tablespoon full until she seems satisfied. At the next feeding give her the total amount that she are previously.

If you want to try another dry food to help during the day, my pickiest eaters like Nature's Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Turkey formula and Pride by Instinct Diva Duck Recipe (the latter I have only seen on Chewy.com.) The Pride is what we have begun starting our kittens out on as the kibble size is very small and it is soft for kibble.

And, yes, if you want to continue just feeding canned, I would include the third meal. I know others on this site have mentioned a timed feeder that uses an ice pack to keep the food fresh (maybe check Amazon but, that might also be a good option for you. You could have it set to feed her 6 hrs or so after you leave for work.

My Norville is almost 9 weeks old and eats almost 1 cup of dry food a day. He drinks plenty of water to go with it to so I'm not worried and just checked out at the vet last Friday. He weighs 1.8lbs

My sisters 7 month old kitten eats 2- 5.5 ounce cans of food a day and free feed on 1 cup dry food. Very active cat and indoor only but plays in a 2 story house with 2 dogs. She is not fat at all either.

Our lil Kenzie is approximately 5 months old, but has been fighting a uri since we got her 3 weeks ago, so she hasn't been very active. She is quarantined in a bathroom until she gets better. Her appetite isn't slowing down and she's as active as she can be in the area. Based on feedback, we've been feeding her 1/2 of a 5.5 oz can, 3x's/day and she seems more content! Thanks for all of the input!!

Our 6 month old kitten eats anywhere between 6-9 oz of wet food, split into 3 meals (7:30, 4:30, 10 approx) PLUS 1/4 c of dry overnight.  I don't think you can overfeed a kitten, and they eat A LOT.  One 5.5 oz can is too little, in my opinion.  I would add a third meal right before you go to bed.  Skye goes through growth spurts, where he will scarf down his wet meal very quickly, so I give him more at each meal for a few days, and then he tapers back for a week or so, and then wants more again the next week.    

I've always read you're supposed to feed a kitten as much as they want to eat. If I put a can down & it gets gobbled up, I'll open up another one. Only when they're cats should the feedings be monitored.

Thanks Chloe92us, that was very helpful.  When we first got Kenzie from the shelter, she didn't seem to want any dry food whatsoever.  The shelter had been feeding her Natural Balance, and when we got her home and left some out for her (mind you, I left a gladware 2 cup container 1/2 full out for like a week-I had no clue what I was doing!), the level never seemed to go down.  We took that back and exchanged for Merrick, and same thing.  She just didn't seem interested in dry food.  She's also been teething (has lost 3 teeth that I've seen so far, including 1 just this morning), so it could be maybe dry food is painful for her right now?

We grabbed some Orijen Cat & Kitten dry food yesterday.  I had fed her 3 times yesterday (3oz cans of Merrick Chicken Divan-which seems to be her favorite), and left 1/4 cup dry overnight which was mostly gone by 10am today.

She isn't very active right now due to confiment to the bathroom until she gets over this URI/upper respiratory infection.  We play with her in the morning and after work, and she loves chasing her toys, but I'm not sure if she's getting enough exercise.  I just don't want to be lectured by the vet when she goes back in for a check-up!  Hopefully she kicks this URI soon and we can give her free reign of our 2 bedroom apartment. She has a cat tree waiting for her to explore once she gets out of quarantine!

Good luck!
We free feed dry which the (3) girls don't like. Walter (the youngest), inhales any wet or dry.

For the wet (I can have anywhere 1 to 4 kittens eating at wet food time) one 5.5oz. Each kitten seems to eat appx 1\2 a can, maybe a bit less or more (depending) at each feeding (3 times a day).
The oldest kitten who is or will be 5 months or is it 6 (I need to look at my calendar) months, eats the least. Go figure. Not sure why. She is healthy, playful and energetic.

Again, good luck. I too was told to free feed wet (3 times a day) and dry